Thailand is the Prevé’s second export destination after Australia, and Lukman was keen to emphasise the Thai market’s importance to Proton. “We always viewed Thailand as a test of competitiveness,” he said, referring to the Japanese “big boys” that have an iron grip on the market, especially the Corolla/Civic segment where the Preve is competing in.

“Thailand challenges us to be competitive. To be a global brand, it’s the perfect testing ground,” he said, joking that Proton’s emphasis on Thailand means “you’re gonna see me more here.”

Fully agreeing, this writer asked about Proton’s strategy to stand out in marketplace, as the obvious method of undercutting rivals in price while offering better specs alone should not be sufficient. Even the Koreans, armed with successful global products, have not made any impact in Thailand.

Lukman acknowledged that and explained that the Koreans probably had a bad start in Thailand, and as we all know, recovering from a situation is harder than starting from a clean sheet. Before the eco-car wave, the Savvy stood out for its low price and the Exora has been well regarded. “Proton had a good start and we should leverage on this – continuity,” he said, thanking the previous management for laying the foundations.

As for the unique strategy question, Lukman explained that Proton is guided by QCD (Quality, Cost, Delivery) and “not just point of sales, but point of service” is very important in Thailand. To be in the hearts and minds of people, Proton will focus on the “caring aspect” with personalised treatment and service instead of ad blasting.

“When the ownership experience is good, the word of mouth will be good,” Lukman reasons. An example of this caring aspect is the provision of a courtesy car of the same level as the customer’s car. For instance, an Exora owner will get a courtesy Exora, because his lifestyle required an MPV in the first place.

Besides that, “Proton needs to be more visible in Thailand” and a network expansion program will see the dealership number rise to 35 by early next year from the current 31. All will be 3S centres.

With established auto player Phanakorn as its sole distributor, Proton has decent presence in central and north east Thailand, but “there’s more room for growth in south Thailand”. In the south, Proton currently has just four outlets in Hatyai, Trang, Phuket and Surat Thani.

Proton is in the top-10 passenger car brands sales chart in Thailand, but the recent eco car wave (affordable models from big brands) and first car tax rebate scheme (only for CKD cars) have affected things a little. Currently, Proton sells around 3,000 cars a year in the Land of Smiles.

With the launch of the Exora Prime and Prevé, Proton expects Thailand to contribute a bigger slice of its export total. Sales targets for the Prevé is 100 units per month, while the top spec Exora Prime is expected to add 20 to the MPV’s current 120 units per month.

Back in October, we revealed to you Proton’s export and product plans for the near future, and all that (Prevé hatchback, UK and Indonesia markets are next) remains unchanged, although Lukman did let slip some hints of more to come.

“Next year there will be a new model,” he said, adding that Proton also needs to work on the D-segment as there’s no more Perdana. “Proton wants to be in all segments,” Lukman declared, while also hinting at an SUV. No dates were given, although the new model in question should be the Prevé hatchback.

A C-segment hatchback would be handy for a renewed assault at the UK market, where Proton needs to tune its engines to meet Euro 5/6 standards. “We had a good start last time (in the UK) and the challenge is how to get back to the levels of competitiveness there. By the second half of next year, Exora and Prevé will be ready for UK, Insyallah,” Lukman said.

Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.

So far so good actually, but perhaps not good enough. Let’s see if DRB and Proton are able to live up to their promises. They still have a LOT left on their plate though. For a start, Proton needs to treat our market like they do with overseas ones; with care and respect. On a side note, Danny is right. Proton should invest more in southern Thailand. Most of the Thais who live there are in the low income range, that’s where Proton comes in. Plus, there are also a lot of ethnic Malays in the south, who may wish to own a Malaysian car for political reasons. And so on.

Most of the good work was done by DSZ. The good foundations, the new dynamism in Proton, the renewed emphasis on global competitiveness and improved product quality.. all were accomplished under DSZ’s watch. The DRB jokers have been so slow at executing plans ever since they took over from Proton to the point that the momentum that DSZ left behind has started to die down. Hopefully DRB will be able to take Proton a notch higher after DSZ has raised the bar tremendously.

I agree. DS Zainal Abidin is the real hero here, I have much respect for his contributions to Proton. It’s a shame he stepped down though. Nonetheless, it wouldn’t be fair to call DRB ‘jokers’ … not yet at least. They’ve only been the owner of Proton for a handful of months now. Let’s just see if they manage to keep their bold words in the coming future. I have by doubts, but I won’t jump to conclusions yet, it’s too early to make the call.

are u mad? honda can never be bad. that preve must be good because test drive unit. that honda u tested is lemon one. no need to argue. Honda is the best. But wait till u test toyota. Its out of the world experience. Resale value also good. No need to argue lah.

Wow, really? How does it actually feel to drive that mad. I bet only a few of you here are mad enough to do that in Malaysian highway, certainly not me. I am not a Proton salesman but Preve does cuts above the rest in its class. Put all the bias aside, just happily test it, 100% you will change you perception.

“When the ownership experience is good, the word of mouth will be good,” ….rofl with this statement..please implement this statement to malaysian first,mr deputy ceo.. then you can talk cock at thailand..

Everything he said reflects what proton needs to be doing, which is good. But these words have been said before so until we see some result, we will clap our hands, or my hands to be more accurate.

But here’s the question , what about your own market? Malaysia. I know Thailand and uk are competitive market and is good bcuz progress comes from increase competition, but you are offering better products there than your home market.

Does this means we are less important. Or is it bcuz the market here is still rigged in P1 favors so there is no need to worry about competition here.

Oh budak kecik! They sell at lowest price for their own and oversea market. But for Jaguh Kampung No. 2, they sell at overseas with lower price but come with better specs and vice-versa for local. This is call global brand? So wanna to follow global players like mitsu, daihatsu ……. in selling car globally, do it fairly at home turf first …..

Everything is wrong la for you fellas. No matter what they do. You guys just want to feel good about yourself by bashing other people effort. Give them chance to prove themself la guys. Proton Preve and Exora bold are good cars and you guys basher just cannot accept that as a fact. It is better than your godlike vios almera avanza n many more.

labu, why compare with vios when they’re obviously not in the same segment? are u dumb or actually dumber than i thought?
you should compare with civic, the cheapest bare-spec civic is more than RM77k, but Preve starts from RM63k. fully loaded Preve is RM76k, but the highest spec Civic is around RM112k. did you noticed that full-spec Preve is still cheaper than bare-spec Civic? definitely Proton is using their price and spec advantage against the ‘branded’ competitors.

Yes selling Protong at Australia is as “good” as selling Porsche or Lamborghini with similar volume quantity annually…Just like the China car sales quantity in Australia (way higher than Protong), also as good as Hundai Kia sales figure…

But why crappy China cars sell more in Australia than Protong? He He He looks like Saga S16 free gift soon also a quad-bike lah just like Jumbuck… PATHETIC LAH YOU PROTONG

Many might not be aware of this…but may I suggest your team look into Proton’s existing model line-up…because at the moment it’s a… circus…Believe me…this is one area where Proton’s global ambitions can be made…or broken.

What makes a proper global car brand…? Their established model lineage/range, some that even span many generations to this day. Lineage and global recognition are the key words.

Proton’s model ‘lineage’…err history:
– Iswara (Wait, isn’t this just a Saga with revised front & rear lights?…why the new name…?)
– Wira (this SHOULD be the second gen Saga!)
– Satria (okay, this is the ONLY Proton model with SECOND gen – Satria Neo)
– Perdana (is the second gen coming soon…?)
– Tiara (what were they thinking…)
– Juara (Proton buried this model…wonder why…)
– Waja (still waiting for the new Waja…)
– Gen2 (okay, is this supposed to be the new Saga or Waja or…what…?)
– Persona (this is just a GEN2 with a longer body!)
– Savvy (will there BE a new Savvy…?)
– Saga BLM (wait…now Proton is using back the SAGA moniker…? But why a smaller model?…I’m confused…)
– Inspira (LANCER!!!)

There you have it folks…ANY carmaker in the world would shake their heads in disbelief at Proton’s ‘rojak’ line-up…The heritage of a model range is VERY, VERY important…especially to Europeans.

Well, what’s done is done. Moving forward, I would suggest DRB start afresh. Start the ‘new’ model line-up with the Preve and Exora since they are fairly recent (stick to the model names, NO MORE ‘new name’ for next gen replacements…suka sangat nama baru, haishh!) and continue with the Satria Neo (it’s the only second gen Proton so far). Establish your model line-up first Proton. Then you can talk about truly going global…And no, I’m not a fan of Proton…but I can’t just stand idly by as they keep overlooking this glaring problem…peace…

Proton is a GLC which has it’s own KPI. Surely satisfying customer is No. 4 or 5. No.1 is making sure enough job created so that jobless rate is low.What is the point of being Barca or Real type of company in country where jobless rate is 25%/quarter of population.

one big problem is how the stupid EDAR guys treat customers….”this 1 no problem 1″ and “ok I repair redi u try and see” answers have reli made me tired of bein their customer….wats the point of buyin a car which u bought to go to work, when u have to take leave and go workshop? this man better treats malaysian customers the better b4 offerin all this promises in Thai market….just bcoz some buy the car without an option they don’t care is it??

Why only compare altis & Civic. Ford, Chevrolet, Volkswagen,Hyundai, kia’ quality lose to them? Altis & civic saleable because of brand name. In terms of features and value for money, they are far away.

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